


Late Night Discussions

by depressed_stressed_lemon_zest



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29096244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/depressed_stressed_lemon_zest/pseuds/depressed_stressed_lemon_zest
Summary: After being interrupted behind the tapestry, Dean is ready for Ron to explode. Ron is ready to shout, Dean just wants an explanation, Seamus wants the drama, and Neville just wants to pass his exam. And why is Harry acting so weird?
Relationships: Dean Thomas/Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom & Ginny Weasley, Seamus Finnigan & Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan & Neville Longbottom & Harry Potter & Dean Thomas & Ron Weasley
Kudos: 8





	Late Night Discussions

**Author's Note:**

> Based on my Bridgeton Tumblr post: find me at depressed-stressed-lemon-zest
> 
> I'd love to know what you think <3
> 
> Happy reading and stay safe in the non-magical world!

Dean pushed back through the tapestry exit, passing Ron and Harry who were now giving him scathing glares. He made his way through the groups of students congregating in the hallways, who were making the most of the evening before the curfew was enforced in fifteen minutes.  
He made his way to the Fat Lady and grumpily announced, “ _Mibulus Mimbletonia_ ” as the portrait swung open to allow him into the common room.

For a winter’s evening, where students couldn’t bear to be out in the Scottish cold after 2 pm, the common room was relatively empty. He forced a smile at two second years who were playing exploding snap, subsequently reminding him about the game he’d promised to have with Seamus later this evening. Dean climbed the stairs leading to the 6th Year dormitories, on the way passing Ginny’s bunkmate Anna, who sweetly asked;

“Hey Dean, where’s Gi-”  
“She’s coming soon...” he replied bitterly, “...just having a little _word_ with her brother, that’s all.”

Anna looked back up at Dean, who was at this moment trying to prevent all his feelings of anger and rage bubbling back up to the surface. He definitely didn’t want to take out his frustrations on Ginny’s friend, especially as she was someone who was nothing but supportive of their relationship.

Anna merely shrugged and looked amused. Luckily for Dean, who was not feeling up for a friendly discussion, she didn’t pause to ignite any form of conversation, instead, she just continued on her way downstairs to the common room. Breathing a sigh of relief, Dean marched up the stairs and entered dormitory 6B, bursting in loudly and making no attempt to hide how pissed off he currently was.

“ _Whoa_ -”  
“ _Shit_ mate’ 

Seamus and Neville both exclaimed simultaneously, as the latter almost dropped the Wiggentree seedling he held in his arms. 

“Well, he finally went and did it…” Dean began, after huffing and dropping his Quidditch bag to the floor, then collapsing onto his four-poster bed. 

“Wait what? Did practice go that badly?” Neville asked, looking to Seamus for reassurance, who appeared to be as equally as confused.

“No, no…” Dean said, “practice was fine, _more than fine_ even-”

“ -was she in those tight black trousers again?’ Seamus interrupted, laughing and wiggling his eyebrows at Dean, who smirked back.

Neville appeared to have turned bright pink at the mention of Dean’s girlfriend, and he began picking at lint on his jumper that had been loosened by the prickly thorns of his plant.   
Everyone in the dormitory knew how Neville had taken Dean’s new girlfriend, Ginny, to the Yule Ball way back in their fourth year. Neville, in a chivalrous attempt to ‘clear the air’ (that didn’t really need clearing), made it absolutely clear to Dean that he held no romantic feelings at all towards Ginny, and that they had just remained close friends. 

Dean, still fuming, made his way onto his bed and began to recount the story of how their delightful trip to the third-floor tapestry had been ruined by a meddling brother and, well...what was Harry to Ginny? Ron’s best mate? A close friend? A brother? 

Dean recalled the look on Harry’s face when he, alongside Ron, had caught Ginny and him locked tight in a fierce embrace behind the tapestry. Dean knew that Harry wasn't an idiot, He’s only human too. Along with every other teenage male that knew her, surely there wasn’t one boy in the entire school who hadn’t noticed Ginny in a _different_ type of way this year; the way her skirt was slightly shorter this year than the last, the way she flourished on the quidditch pitch, the way that she wore clothes that fit tighter around her chest. Dean really did feel like the luckiest boyfriend in the world.

“Then what?” said a voice, belonging to Seamus, bringing him back into reality.   
Dean shook himself out of his daydream, trying not to think too hard about Ginny’s uniform - especially in the presence of his roommates.

“What?”

“Are you alright?” Neville chuckled, picking up a copy of The Daily Prophet off of the floor.

“Yes, of course, I-, wait what was I saying again?”  
This time Seamus was the one laughing, “You were saying how you heard the tapestry rip open? Remember?”

“Oh right..” Dean continued, shuffling slightly to relieve the tightness in his jeans, “...and that’s when Ron burst in. The look in his eyes - well you should’ve seen it, it was actually quite terrifying.” 

“I bet” Seamus chuckled, “Not much he can do about it though, is there?”

“ _Exactly_ ,” Dean said, “... she’s _my_ girlfriend after all, and someday we’ll be doing _a bit more than just snogging_ believe me. Ron’s just going to have to get used to it, he doesn’t own Ginny. It’s none of his business who she goes out with, or what she does with them.”

“Hear hear!” Seamus shouted, cracking open a bottle of butterbeer and taking a large gulp. 

“Besides,” he continued, swallowing the mouthful of beer, “he _probably_ just wants to feel a sense of superiority - it’s not like _Ron’s_ got anyone to snog is it.”

“True,” Dean replied, leaning back into a more comfortable position.

“Although now you mention it…” Neville said from the corner of the room, stifling a smirk.  
Dean and Seamus looked at each other in surprise - had they missed something? Usually, their doom was all for discussing girls and their _particular assets_.

“Go on then, spit it out!” the two boys replied simultaneously. 

Neville looked up from his plant and gave them both a knowing look. “Have you ever noticed how _Lavender_ looks at him? Remember in charms today? She was almost drooling over the ‘Bubble-Head Charm’ that he cast in class. Me? I’d bet a _galleon_ that they’re together by the holidays.”

“Well, I'll believe it when I see it,” Seamus said whilst opening up a new packet of exploding snap, signalling for Dean to come over and start their game. Neville turned back and continued to care for the array of magical plants by his windowsill, whilst Dean and Seamus then battled it out on the Wizard Chess board set.

It was only after an hour when he had finally beaten Seamus in their game (again), that the subject of the overprotective-brother-and-friend got brought up again;

“What’s he got against you anyway mate? I’d say your perfect boyfriend material for Ginny”

“I _don’t know_ ” Dean moaned, feeling quite the bit sorry for himself. “I get it. Brothers feel the need to be caring for the youngest sister, but surely they need to let her be happy - and she is happy with me.”

“Honestly I wouldn’t worry over it” Neville began, having changed into his pyjamas and now sitting on the bed opposite the pair. “You’re snogging his sister, he’s bound to act strange-”

But with a crash at the door, the end of Neville’s sentence died in his throat. The three boys looked over to the door, where the overprotective-brother-and-friend had both just walked in, having obviously heard the end of the previous conversation.

Dean knew what was coming.

Ron stood in the doorway, glaring right at him and refusing to break eye-contact. Knowing he wasn’t the one in the wrong, Dean decided to accept the challenge with a harsh stare back. After what seemed like forever, Harry cleared his throat and slipped past Ron, walking straight into their dormitory bathroom and locking the door behind him. 

A period of time continued to pass. This was just getting _awkward_ now, Rean could hear Neville uncomfortably shuffling on his bed, Seamus, however, was still looking at them both - clearly amused and enjoying the drama more than he should.

“You alright?” Dean said to Ron, breaking the silence

“ _Great_. You?” he replied, eyes still fixated on Dean.

“ _Fantastic_.”

Silence consumed the room again, as Ron stomped over to his bed and began putting on his pyjamas.

“Well now that we’ve established everyone’s great, can we shut off the lights? Considering that it’s almost 11 pm and some of us have the Astronomy exam early tomorrow morning,” Neville said chuckling - albeit uneasily - clearly failing to diffuse some of the tension.

After Harry finally appeared out of the bathroom, the five of them sat in complete silence. Dean waited impatiently for someone to speak. 

But no-one did. 

Eventually, it got to a point where the atmosphere became unbearable, and after turning the lights off, Neville ended up encouraging everyone to get to sleep.

Several moments passed in the pitch black. Dean was still waiting for the unavoidable outburst, he knew Ron would have his questions. They’d all seen Ron get angry before; at Harry, Seamus, Hermione, even Neville too - so it was inevitable that he’d blow up at him too, all for snogging the daylights out of his sibling.

“Why are you dating my sister?” Ron said angrily from amongst the darkness.

There was a pause. Dean didn’t really know what to say. He liked Ginny, of course, that was obvious. Was Ron really looking for an answer? Truthfully, the conversation would go something like; ‘Because she’s smart, funny, and looks a damn fine sight bent over on her broomstick.’ 

_No_. That was _definitely not_ the conversation he’d be having with his girlfriend’s older brother.

He decided to reply, “Should I _not_ be dating your sister?” 

“ _No_.” A pause again. “And I can think of _dozens_ of reasons why starting with, _she is my sister_ , and ending with, we’re mates and are all sharing a dormitory”

The lights were now on again and Neville, Seamus, and Harry were all watching in fear, carefully waiting for what would happen next. 

“And then _perhaps._.” Ron continued, his voice getting louder with each syllable, “circling back to _she is my sister_ ”

That was the breaking point. Dean was _pissed_. How could he try and think that Ron was actually happy for him? Clearly, the _brother-of-the-century_ did not think that Dean was in any way good enough for Ginny. 

Dean sat up in bed and looked over towards Ron. “Can’t you just be happy for us and move on?” he said frustrated, trying not to start a fight so late in the evening. He decided that he could wait until the morning when he was with Ginny and accompanied further by her bat-bogeys that would be ready to hex any brother who decided to cross them.

That was what he liked so much about her. Loved about her? No, only liked - _for now_. Liked a lot, but just like for the moment. It was clear, Dean thought, that Ginny was perfect for him in every way. She was feisty, a superstar chaser and an all-around beautiful Goddess. 

It was like they only had eyes for each other.

“Any other girl, yes. _My sister?_ No, and I’ll tell you why…” Ron spat back at him.  
“Why not? Go on, I want to hear.” Dean shouted, his temper rising again and coming out at the boy he thought to be one of his closest friends.

“Don’t you talk to him like that,” Harry yelled, his chest heaving. 

Dean stopped for a minute, confused at the reaction that the boy was showing. He looked over to see Harry looking angrier than he’d ever been, even throughout all of their fifth year. It was as if there was a _monster_ inside of him.

_As Ron continued to shout, he couldn’t help but think about Harry with Ginny. Harry had always been close to her, he knew that for a fact. Dean remembered how Harry had saved Ginny’s life back in her first year, so of course, he was bound to show some sort of protection over her._

_But he couldn’t help but think that this was different than with Ron._

_Different to the platonic ‘brotherly love’ she had for all of her family. When she teased her brother at quidditch practise, she always did it with Harry. When she pulled off a perfect imitation of McLaggen, Harry was laughing with her the loudest._

_Dean knew that he did not need to feel insecure - so why was this coming up now?_

_His mind wandered back to Harry’s reaction when Ron had ripped open the tapestry - it wasn’t one of smiles and cheers. Hand in a fist, lips pursed, Harry certainly didn’t enjoy seeing Ginny kissing another boy._

_But surely he was just over-analysing everything._

_When Dean had asked her about it at the start of their relationship, Ginny herself had told him that her crush on Harry, well, it was all a load of prepubescent nonsense - ‘hero worship’ she’d called it._

“Alright calm down Potter” Seamus chimed in, clearly annoyed at the way Dean was being treated here.

Dean felt a strong sense of appreciation for his best friend. Although he’d appeared unsure at first, Seamus had really grown to respect his relationship with Ginny - despite him never being in a long-lasting one himself.

“Let’s just stop,” Neville exclaimed, “ _please_.” Dean turned to see Neville perched on the end of his bed looking exasperated at all four of them. Harry was now sitting up, and Ron was standing at the edge of his bed. Seamus had moved himself in between them all, and even Dean noticed that he himself had rolled his pyjamas sleeves up, clearly psyching himself up for a punch.

“ _Please_ …” he continued “ the astronomy exam starts in four hours, and I for one can’t afford another ‘ _dreadful'_ grade, if I do then Gran will have a howler sent straight my way, and I do not want that for myself.” 

As soon as Neville had finished speaking, the lights were magically flicked back off, and the boys found themselves in darkness once again. Dean could hear the rest of the dormitory climb back into bed and get under their covers, so he decided to do the same. 

Punching the lights out of Ron would have to wait for another time. 

Tossing and turning, trying to sleep through Neville’s snores and what he thinks was _Harry’s_ mumbling, he decided that he couldn’t let Ron have the last word.

“Ron? Just so you know, _Ginny_ is certainly happy for the two of us…” Dean paused, waiting for a response. Nothing. Should he say it? Would he dare? 

“...she _certainly_ has her ways of showing it.” 

And after hearing a mutter and a grunt from Ron’s side of the dormitory, Dean knew that he’d definitely ruffled the feathers of the older boy. He wasn’t going to back down now. 

One thing for sure, he was certainly going to be discussing the night’s events with Ginny in the morning. Maybe they could discuss it back behind the tapestry they were at this evening?

 _Yes_. Dean thought to himself. 

They’ll most _definitely_ be having a very long discussion in the morning.


End file.
